The Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday activated defenseman John Moore off injured reserve and reassigned defenseman Cody Goloubef to the team's American Hockey League affiliate in Springfield.

Moore, 22, had missed the past eight games after sustaining a shoulder injury during a morning skate at Chicago's United Center on March 1. A 2009 first-round pick (No. 21) of the Blue Jackets, Moore has two goals and eight points in 82 career NHL games. He had one assist at the time of his injury earlier this month.

Goloubef, 23, appeared in 10 games with Columbus this season and had one goal, 10 hits and six blocked shots. The 2009 second-round pick (No. 37) has posted 11 goals and 41 points in 123 career AHL games. He had five goals and 12 points in 25 matches for the Springfield Falcons this season.

It is an argument that inspires passion in every rink, sports bar and living room where hockey is being played or is on the television. It can incite elevated heart rates in person and long discussion threads on the Internet.

Who is the best?

NHL.com and NHL Network gathered 10 writers and television personalities and asked that very question. Each was asked to rank their top eight in eight categories -- centers, left wings, right wings, defensemen, goalies, coaches, general managers and guys who wore the No. 8 sweater.

The voting, which took place for all eight segments in mid-February, is complete and the points have been tallied. Here is our answer to the simple question, who are the best in the NHL?

Last week, our panel voted on the top eight left wings and a big theme was a divide in opinions on a few key players. This week, the focus shifts to the other side of the ice.

The first thing that stands out about right wing is that it looks a little deeper than the left side. The bottom four on this list includes a pair of Hart Trophy winners and two players who have led the League in goals or points.

The New York Islanders announced Friday that forward David Ullstrom has a groin injury that is expected to sideline him for 3-4 weeks.

Ullstrom has two goals and five points in 20 games this season. He posted four goals and eight points in 29 games during his rookie season in 2011-12.

According to Islanders coach Jack Capuano, forwards Jesse Joensuu and Colin McDonald are questionable for Saturday's game at the Florida Panthers.

The Anaheim Ducks on Friday acquired center David Steckel from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for right wing Ryan Lasch and a seventh-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Steckel, 31, was a 2001 first-round draft pick (No. 30) of the Los Angeles Kings. He spent five-plus seasons with the Washington Capitals before being dealt to the New Jersey Devils in February 2011. He has spent the past two seasons with the Maple Leafs, primarily as a fourth-line center. He averaged 7:04 of ice time and had one assist in 13 games for Toronto in 2012-13. He also won 38 of 81 faceoffs (46.9 percent).

Injured Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skated on his own Friday with strength coach Mike Kadar, but will not play Saturday afternoon against the New York Rangers, the team announced.

Malkin is sidelined with an upper-body injury sustained March 9 in a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was his third game back in the lineup after missing time due to a concussion. The Penguins have stated Malkin's injury is not concussion related.

Malkin has five goals and 24 points in 21 games this season.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul, who has been out since Jan. 24 with a fractured forearm, has been cleared for contact and could play Saturday against the Winnipeg Jets.

Maple Leafs coach Randy Carlyle informed the media in Toronto about Lupul's status Friday, but said he wasn't sure if he would insert him into the lineup against the Jets.

DALLAS -- When the Dallas Stars signed veterans Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney in July, pundits wondered about adding two players who had passed their 40th birthday.

As Dallas general manager Joe Nieuwendyk explained, the Stars added Jagr, 41, and Whitney, 40, for what they could bring on the ice as well as in the room as veteran mentors for a mostly young roster.

After catching a glimpse late last season of prospects like defenseman Brenden Dillon, a defenseman signed out of the Western Hockey League in 2011, and wing Reilly Smith, a third-round pick in the 2009 NHL Draft, Nieuwendyk wanted to see how they would handle significant NHL ice time. Later he added center Cody Eakin, acquired in a June trade with Washington for Mike Ribeiro, and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak, the 14th pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, to that list.

Dillon, 22, who has been paired with veteran defenseman Stephane Robidas, has been rock solid. He hasn't missed a game and ranks fourth on Dallas in ice time at 20:17 per game.

Alex Ovechkin scored career points 700 and 701 on Thursday night in the Washington Capitals' 3-2 comeback win against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh, N.C.

Alex Ovechkin

Left Wing - WSH

GOALS: 10 | ASST: 12 | PTS: 22
SOG: 107 | +/-: -6

Only 209 players in NHL history have more career points than Ovechkin, who is still just 27 years old. Since 2005-06, no player has more points than Ovechkin.

That's not too bad for a guy who has been consistently criticized during his career by just about every hockey analyst in North America.

"For me it doesn't matter," Ovechkin told reporters about reaching 700 points. "Right now the most important thing is to get back on track and just stay fight for the playoff spot."

If it seems like the shooters are getting better in the shootout … well, they are.

Through the first 400 games this season, 56, or 14.0 percent, have been decided in the tiebreaker. That's down slightly from the 14.72 percent total for 2011-12, though it would still be the second-highest full-season percentage since the shootout was adopted in 2005.

But shooters are having their best season ever in the tiebreaker. They've scored 133 times on 357 attempts, a 37.3 percent success rate that dwarfs previous seasons. The 33.8 percent rate in 2011-12 was the best in the first seven seasons, and the average success rate in those seven seasons was 32.7 percent -- just below one in every three attempts.

The improvement by the shooters is most evident in the number of shootouts that are being decided quickly.

Less time on an airplane, fewer nights in a hotel, more days at home -- who wouldn't be in favor of all that?

National Hockey League players are no different than anyone else when it comes to the rigors of travel, so it's no surprise that the League's two-conference, four-division alignment plan that was approved by the Board of Governors on Thursday and will go into effect starting next season was met with positive reviews from many of the guys who will be most affected by the changes.

"I like … a lot of things about it," Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla said. "It makes sense."